Getting The Girl (Ladynoir Adrienette)
by SnowflakeIcing
Summary: Ladybug finally agreed to reveal her identity to Chat Noir, on the condition that he charms her within seven days. {I posted this on Wattpad and Archive Of Our Own and I got some nice feedback so I'm sharing it here too!}
1. one

The sun was finally setting as city's most renowned superheroes were finishing up patrolling the streets of Paris. It was a long day and they both knew they had school the next day.

'Sometimes balancing school work and saving Paris can be so hard,' the spotted heroine thinks to herself, almost sighing in the process. Next to her her partner, Chat Noir, is staring at her longingly, admiring his lady's beauty. Her eyes always seemed to shine brighter in the night by the city lights.

Right there and then, a sharp beeping sound pulls Chat Noir back into reality.

"I guess that's are queue to stop," Ladybug chuckles, nudging her partner, "Well see you tomorrow night Kitty."

Chat Noir's heart drops at the thought of having to wait a whole day to see his lady again. 'If only I knew her identity,' his mind then begins to wonder in places that it shouldn't, 'what if there's a way to-...'

Chat's eyes widen as a bundle of thoughts start flashing through his head but there wasn't anytime think about them, right know he has to think quick before he loses her again. Suddenly, almost by reflex he immediately grabs onto Ladybug's wrist, pulling her back, "I won't tell," he vows, looking at her sternly, "I promise."

"Chat..." Ladybug glances back at him apologetically, "We already talked about this-"

Just before Ladybug could go on about how revealing themselves is extremely dangerous and how it can't end well Chat interrupts her, "I know my lady, I heard it all before," he sighs and looks down at his feet, "It's just that..."

"It's just that what?"

"It's just that...well, who's going to protect you while I'm gone?"

There was a moment of silence before the heroine burst out laughing, "I can take care of myself Chat!"

Despite his ridiculous concerns, Chat was a little annoyed by her reaction, "I'm serious! What if someone tries to hit on you? You know how I feel about sharing Bug-a-boo!"

Ladybug really couldn't keep herself from laughing at this point, this was too much, "You're a riot Chat Noir!" she tries to catch her breath to compose herself, "We're not even dating, silly kitty!"

"Well not yet anyway," Chat corrects his lady. He knew that she was joking around but quite frankly, he was insulted.

Ladybug rolls her eyes at cat's comment, 'There's no way he's actually serious about his feelings for me,' she thinks to herself. Her mind then begins to wonder a bit 'I wonder if I test his affections...'

Suddenly she her mind comes up with something brilliantly dangerous that might just answer her question, "Okay Kitty," she starts off, before proposing her offer, "I'll give you seven days to make me fall for you, if you win I'll tell you my identity."

Chat Noir blinks twice, stunned by her proposal, "Wait, are you serious?"

"Sure!" the girl confirms, exciting Chat in the process, "After all, it would only make sense for Paris' favourite power couple to know each other's identities," his lady continues.

Chat Noir grins playfully and strikes a pose in a dramatic fashion, "Well my lady, I'll have you know that by the end of the week you will so charmed by this cat that you won't know what hit you!"

"We'll see about that Kitty," she rolls her eyes before hearing another beep, "I have to go now, I'll see you tomorrow! Also, watch that ego for me!" she winks before swinging off through the night-lit city, leaving a completely lovestruck Chat behind.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
The teenage girl swings through her bedroom window and flops directly on her bed as the last dot on her earrings' goes off. Marinette, exhausted by patrol, gives out a heavy groan as her kwami, Tikki flies out of her earrings and hovers about her, "Are you actually going to tell him?" Tikki asks her chosen who was still trying to compose herself after the night.

"Of course not," Marinette replies, as if it were obvious, "It's too risky!"

Tikki furrows her eyebrows, "Isn't that a little cruel Marinette?" Tikki scolds, "You shouldn't be leading him on!"

Marinette, shocked by Tikki's statement, quickly defends herself, "I'm not leading him on!" she explains, a little annoyed that her kwami would assume that, "It's that that he won't be able to charm me. My heart already belongs to someone else," she tells the ladybug-like creature as she looks over at one of her Adrien Agreste posters dreamily, "Besides," Marinette continues on, "I just want to see how serious he is about his feelings. I probably acts like that around most girls."

"Mari..." Tikki sighs with disapproval, "Chat really cares about you! He's not that shallow!"

"I know that Tikki," the brunette sighs, heading towards her balcony, "I just want to know in what way."

'Besides, if he does charm me I'll keep my promise,

Right?' 


	2. two

"And look at that, our little Marinette finally shows up to school on time!" Alya jokes as her groggy best friend joins her in entering the school building, "Finally set your alarm?"

Marinette rolls her eyes, "I went to bed early last night."

"Seriously girl, you gotta get some sleep! Overworking yourself can't be good for your health!" Alya expresses her concern to an obviously tired Marinette. They continue to walk by the court yard when Marinette spots Adrien from across the area.

"Oh look it's Adrien!" her best friend points, "You should go talk to him!"

Marinette jumped at Alya's suggestion and a look of panic spread across her face, "O-oh what-no! I can't talk to him!"

"Oh come on!" Alya laughs, grabbing Marinette's wrist and practically dragging her across the court to her crush, who was talking to his friend Nino on the bench.

"Wow dude, you seem happy today," Nino notes, blowing another bubble.

"I had a good day yesterday," Adrien replies dreamily. Nino gives him a strange look before saying anything else, "Adrien...are you seeing someone?"

The model's face went bright red when his friend suggested that, "Wha-no! Well sorta- it's complicated...I think."

"Dude, do you have a crush?"

"Who has a crush?" a voice suddenly speaks. Nino and Adrien look up to see Alya standing up confidently above the boys as if she reigned superior. Behind her was Marinette who was meekly hiding her face behind her bangs.

"Hey Marinette!" the blonde greets the shy girl who continued trying to avoid eye contact. 'Why does she hate being around me so much?'

"Oh-um...hi!" she greets him back awkwardly. Marinette could feel the blood rising to her cheeks, 'How could I mess up a simple hello!?' she mentally slaps herself.

"You didn't answer my question," Alya reverts back to the topic on hand.

"It's Adrien," Nino answers, nudging Adrien's arm playfully. Adrien turns bright red as he covers his face with his hands.

"Ooh," Alya teases the flustered model, "Is this true?"

Adrien scratches the back of his neck nervously. It had always been a nervous habit for him, "Well, I guess, but she doesn't go to this school so you probably don't know her."

Marinette's heart plummets to the ground. He likes someone else. These words get replaying themselves in teenager's head in an endless loop, 'How could you have been so stupid to think that he would like you back!'

Just then Marinette feels a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looks behind her to find Alya looking at her sympathetically. 'This must be how Chat feels whenever I turn him down...' she sighs to herself, 'Well that is if he's actually serious about his feelings.' Suddenly, a pang of guilt hits Marinette. She never really considered Chat's feelings until now.

The bell suddenly rings and Adrien and Nino get up, "We should probably head off to class," the reporter notes. Marinette nods as they start heading towards their classrooms.

Marinette stays behind the group, giving Tikki a chance to pop her head out to speak, "Are you okay Mari?"

"Yeah," Marinette looks down at her kwami, "I guess I'm just disappointed."

That was a lie, Marinette was heart broken.

"Don't worry about it Mari! He just hasn't realised what's standing right in front of him yet!" Tikki adds reassuringly

Marinette smiles meekly but then gets bogged down by another sudden realisation, 'Was there anything in front of him to begin with?'

Marinette arrives to the class and sits down in her usual seat. Alya was already there, staring down at her phone, "Hey Mari! Look at this video someone submitted to my Ladyblog!" the young reporter shows her best friend excitedly. Marinette watched the video and smiled to herself. It was a fifteen second long clip of herself and Chat Noir fighting an akuma.

'I wonder that that stupid cat is doing anyway?' she wonders to herself. 'Probably stalking the Ladyblog, I bet,' Marinette chuckles to herself.

walks into the room and quickly places down all her books, relieving herself from the weight, "Good morning class," she begins cheerfully, "So I'm just going to jump right in today. Over the course of the next two weeks you'll all be doing some pair work for me."

She turns around and starts writing on the board and explaining the project. Marinette yawns quietly before pulling out her sketch book. She hasn't designed anything in weeks and she was beyond desperate for inspiration at this point. The bluenette felt a tap on her shoulder, "Drawing? Any new designs?"

The young designer nods, "Yeah but I'm a little uninspired lately."

Alya stops to think for a moment, "Well Valentine's Day is coming up soon, how about you design something for Adrien?"

Marinette's eyes shift back down to her sketch book"But he's not interest-"

"Marinette and Adrien," calls out. It takes the girl a few seconds to process the new information until it strikes her, "You're partners with Adrien!" her best friend squeals. The bell rings and all the students begin to make their way out of the classroom.

Just as Marinette is about to walk out the door her crush makes his way up to her, "Hey, should I come over after school to work on the project?"

"Oh, yeah sure! I mean-if you want to," Marinette stumbles over her words nervously.

"Cool, see you later Mari!"

Marinette's heart flutters as he walks out. Being the last one left in the class, Tikki hovers above her shoulder, "He called me Mari..."

A rush of adrenaline hits Marinette the moment she throws her bag on her bedroom floor, "Quick Tikki! You have to help me take down all these posters before Adrien comes!" the bluenette panics, ending in both her kwami and herself running around, getting rid of every Adrien Agreste related thing they could find.

Taking down the last few remaining posters, Marinette hears the door bell, "Oh God he's here!"

She quickly makes her way down the stairs to find her crush casually conversing to her mother, "Oh look there she is!"

"Hey Marinette!" Adrien waves, smiling innocently.

"Oh um hi Adrien! We should go work on out project!" Marinette says quickly, trying to get out of the potential awkwardness that would be bound to come if they stood around for any longer. The model nods and follows Marinette upstairs to her bedroom.

Marinette quickly pulls out an extra chair for Adrien so they can both sit down. Adrien makes himself at home before the bluenette panics once more,"Paper!" her eyes light up, "We need paper! Wait here!"

Marinette sprints downstairs to find the supplies, leaving Adrien alone in her room. Suddenly a cat-like kwami flies out from under his shirt, "Wow, this is a lot of pink!"

"Quiet Plagg!" Adrien scolds quietly, "We can't let Mari hear us!"

Plagg laughs mockingly, "Gee kid, a few minutes in and you already got nicknames! No wonder Ladybug thinks you're coming on too strong!"

"PLAGG!"

All of the sudden footsteps could be heard, "Quick hide!"

Plagg hide under Adrien's shirt just in the nick of time.

"I found this poster-paper. That's what it's called, right?" Marinette asks, sitting back down in her seat and straightening out the sheet.

"I just called it paper," Adrien laughs, causing Marinette to blush. After a long, awkward silence, Adrien breaks it by spotting her sketch book opened on one of her old sketches, "Wow, are those your designs?"

The fashionista feels the blood rising to her cheeks, "Yeah, but they haven't really been up to par lately..."

Ignoring her comment, he picks up the book and flicks through her designs "These are really amazing, you should become a designer!"

Marinette smiles at his compliment, "Well that's the plan," she says dreamily, "I'm hoping that this will go somewhere in the future."The girl's eyes suddenly widen and she scratches the back of her neck nervously, "Oh sorry, I'm rambling again!"

Adrien smiles calmly, "That's fine. I like listening to you talk anyway. Who knows, maybe one day I'll wear one of your designs," he winks playfully.

Marinette giggles nervously, still red. It made the blonde happy to finally see her relax a bit. She always seemed to uncomfortable around him. At first he brushed her off as shy but after his visit as Chat Noir and seeing how confident she was to him examining the way she acted in class only to realise that she only acted like this around him. It hurt him knowing that he intimidated her, especially after growing fond of her after their multiple encounters as his alter ego, which led to him trying to talk to her more, even going as far as asking for her autograph. She kinda reminded him of his lady. 'My lady, I wonder what she's doing right now...'

"So the girl you like," Marinette brings up awkwardly, "Are you two a thing or...?"

Adrien blushes slightly at the thought of his lady, "Well not yet anyway," Adrien chuckles playfully. Marinette nearly choked at his remark. 'That sounds like something Chat would say,' she thinks to herself, almost rolling her eyes. A few moments later his face drops a little, "I was just joking, I doubt she likes me back."

"W-what makes you say that?" Marinette asks, her heart aching at how much he seemed to care about this girl. He really did like her. There's no point in her making something for Adrien, he's not interested. However, she might as well comfort him. They can still be friends.

"Well she always seems to shut me down everytime I try to ask her out," Adrien pauses for a moment, "Well in fairness we always seem to get interrupted but still."

"Actually there's this guy I like too but he doesn't return the feelings," Marinette explains, thinking of her own experience with unrequited love.

"That's ridiculous, any guy would be lucky to go out with you," Adrien states. They both smile up at each other before it strikes both of them that they were both pouring out their hearts and souls to each other whereas they weren't even able to maintain a proper conversation just minutes ago. 'Could this be it?' Adrien wonders, 'Are we finally friends?'

Marinette looks at Adrien, "You should ask that girl out!" the blonde looks at her, stunned by her advice, "She would be crazy to say no," she continues. It hurt Marinette to know that her feelings weren't mutual but the least she could do was see him be happy.

"Thanks," he smiles back, "I think I will."

Suddenly Marinette's eyes shift back on the project, "Oh, look we haven't even started! We should-"

"Probably begin?" the model finishes for her, "Yeah, I'd say so too."

All of the sudden there was a huge bang outside, causing both teenagers to jump. Both of them exchanging a worried glance one of them finally decides to speak, "I need to go to the bathroom!" Marinette excuses herself.

"Oh, um, I have to go check on something too!"

Adrien runs downstairs, leaving Marinette on her own, "Tikki, spots on!"

 **{A/N} Oh my goodness! I just posted this here and I already have lovely reviews from you guys! Your all seriously the best! I'll be updating a little sooner on Wattpad since that's where I first write up the chapters, then onto AO3 then here. Love you guys!**

 **Liz~**


	3. three

Chat Noir arrived at the scene a few minutes after Ladybug. Her eyes almost immediately lit up when she saw her partner swoop in to help, "Just on time Kitty!"

Chat smirks playfully, "Well I don't like keeping my lady waiting," he comments, making Ladybug roll her eyes. Her reaction to his remarks always seemed to satisfy the blonde, even if it was just a simple eye roll.

"I see that your already set on winning that bet," she teases, nudging her partner.

"Well I'll have you know my lady, I was only just warming up. The good stuff is still yet to co-GAH" he was suddenly interrupted by Ladybug quickly pushing him out of the way, the blast only missing the bluenette by a few inches.

Ladybug soon found herself clinging onto a very annoyed Chat Noir, "What was that!?" he furrows his eyebrows in anger, "He was about to hit you!"

"He was about to hit you!" the heroine corrects him, annoyed by his lack of gratitude. The cat huffs in frustration, "Who cares!? Your more important!"

Marinette gapes at her partner, shocked by his statement. 'Why would he think that?' she wonders to herself. She was just about to make a comeback to his foolish statement when she was interrupted by another blast which they managed to swiftly dodge.

"We'll talk about this later," she says, taking out her yo-yo. Chat Noir looks over at his partner who was seemingly distracted. Biting his lip, he shakes it off and takes out his baton.

"I am the Bully and I'm not going to be pushed around anymore!" the young, akumatised teen screamed.

"Wow, Hawk Moth is really running out on names here," Chat Noir notes jokingly. Ladybug was just about to add on to that joke when the Bully suddenly tries to throw a large...rock? To their luck he misses but it also manages to refocus the spotted heroine at the task at hand, "Physical bullying," she states matter-of-factly, "That's his power!"

The duo scan the area only to see citizens trying to run, tripping over bricks or stones that the akuma conjured. Objects were flying all over the place, rocks, cars, Hell even damn shoes. Chat looks back over at his partner, "So lets get this straight, his power is to physically hurt people with items that he conjures?"

"Yes but I think he might be stronger than usual too," she confirms, pushing him out of the way of a flying bike, "Just try to avoid him physically touching you, we don't know how strong he is yet!"

"Noted."

The heroes plunge towards the villain, trying their hand at fighting him from the distance. The This went on for a while until realisation finally hits Ladybug "The akuma, its in his bracelet!"

The cat themed superhero hears this and finds an open spot to attack. Just as she finishes summoning her Lucky Charm, a feeling of dread hits the ladybug.

"Chat wait!" he hears his lady call after him as he charges towards the akuma victim. As soon as he manages he grab the bracelet he feels something hard, like a fist hit him, sending him flying backwards. He lands on the grand with a large thud with the bracelet flying out of his hand next to him. Before he could pick it up a red leg stomps on it, smashing the accessory and setting free the butterfly. He looks up to see Ladybug, more courageous and beautiful than ever.

"I free you from evil!" she yells, purifying the insect, "Bye bye petit papillon."

She throws the unused lucky hand-towel in the air, restoring the damage done to the city.

Her attention immediately diverts from the butterfly back to her partner who was only getting up from the ground. She quickly runs back over to him and pulls him in to face her directly into her eyes, her hands placed firmly on his shoulders, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine my lady, don't worry," he says reassuringly. Ladybug's gaze suddenly moves to the bottom, right of his cheek, only noticing the dark, purple bruise on it. Chat looks at her with a confused look until he places his hand on the injury, wincing slightly, "Oh..."

The girl furrows her eyebrows, "You stupid cat!" she scolds, "Why did you try to go after him!? I told you its dangerous!"

He wanted to feel angry for her lack of gratitude for risking his neck for her but she her concern was actually adorable, "My lady, its fine, really."

"I don't get it, why didn't my Lucky Charm heal you?" she says, removing her hands from his shoulders.

"I guess it must be my bad luck," he shrugs. The girl was about to debate him on his recklessness when she heard a sudden beep. The heroine sighs before taking out her yo-yo and preparing to swing away, "We'll finish talking about this later, don't think your off scot free!"

The cat lets out a heavy sigh as he watches the love of his life leave. His eyes widen as he remembers something important, 'Oh crap, the project!' Upon realising this and running back towards the bakery he's suddenly stopped in his tracks as he sees his reflection in a store window. The bruise covered almost the entirety of the bottom, right half of his face. It was a very deep purple, almost black even with small red dots scattered throughout the injury. He can't show up at Marinette's house like this! Especially not after that akuma attack, imagine how suspicious that would look!

He takes out his baton and heads back to his house, entering through his bedroom window. "Plagg, claws in!" he commands, detransforming.

"Haha, dude..." Plagg laughs as he flies over to the coach where a plate full of Camembert was waiting for him, "Your going to have some real explaining to do tomorrow at school!"

Adrien shoots his kwami a look, "Plagg! This isn't funny!"

"It kinda is," the kwami shrugs, popping another piece of cheese in his mouth. Adrien groans and takes out his phone, "Nothing professional make-up can't fix."

He turns on his phone only to find a text from Marinette, waiting for him already.

M: sorry, something came up and i had to leave the house ASAP

A: its okay i actually had to leave early becuz of a photo shoot :(

M: thats fine! i totally understand, we'll work on the project tomorrow

Adrien felt awful having to lie to Marinette like that to get out of seeing her. It made him happy to know that she didn't seem angry at him, at the very least. Even so, injured or not, she was so helpful today. Her little pep talk really did boost his confidence, "That's it!" his eyes light up, "I'm going to ask Ladybug out on a date!

"Its about time," Plagg groans, still stuffing his face with cheese.

"I just need to find out how!" he concludes. His fingers trace up to the bruise as he walks over to his bathroom mirror to see how much damage the Bully had done. It was a really nasty mark and if it weren't for his mask, God knows his entire right half would be purple. He didn't notice this before as Chat Noir but you could almost see the outline of the mask where his face was covered. It was like keeping your shirt on while getting a tan. He sighs knowing that Ladybug would not let him hear the end of this tonight.

The cool, night time breeze blew through Ladybug's hair as she leans against the roof's banister. 'Where is he?' she thinks to herself, growing impatient. She pulls out her compact yo-yo and checks the time for the a hundredth time. She knew she couldn't keep this to herself any longer. That hit really was the last straw. Suddenly she hears a soft thud next to her.

"Looking for me, Bugaboo?" he grins, leaning on his staff. It didn't take him long to realise what was to come after he saw the expression she was wearing. The teenage hero steps away from the edge of the roof and walks in front of him, "Chat Noir, we need to talk."

"I'm all ears my lady," he smirks in attempt to lighten the mood. He was shocked when she placed her gloved hand on the side of his face, letting her thumb trace over the dark splotch. He could feel his cheeks burning up, feeling more thankful than ever for the mask that managed to cover most of the blush.

"Did you ice it?" she asks innocently, voice full of concern as she removes her hand from his face.

"I used an ice-pack," he responds, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere.

"You should have brought it with you," she steps back and lets out a heavy sigh, "I'm sick of having to see you get hurt because of me."

"You shouldn't have to feel bad, its my choice," he states, putting his staff away, "I don't see why your so against be protecting you."

"I'm only against it if it means you get hurt in the process!" she argues back. This was the first time he ever saw his lady be so serious around him. Still, he wasn't willing to back down from his case.

"It doesn't matter if I get hurt! All that matters is that you don't!" he quickly defends his position, "Besides, you risk your neck for me, as well as all of Paris everyday! Why is this any different!?"

"Well I don't end up hurting myself while I do it Chat!" she crosses her arms in frustration, "I have luck on my side, you don't."

"Your all the luck I need, my lady," he grins flirtatiously which only annoyed Ladybug even more.

"Chat this is serious!" she stomps her foot angrily. Her partnered furrows his eyebrows and groans, "Why do you have to be so stubborn!? Look, I don't mind getting hurt for you, I enjoy keeping you out of harm's way and honestly, I think your being ungrateful!"

Ladybug was about to lose it at this point, "How am I being ungrateful Chat!?"

"Well I jumped in to get the bracelet so you wouldn't have to," he crosses his arms, "I knew what I was getting myself into and I was okay with the risks. I still am!"

"I don't care if you were okay with it or not, the problem is that I wasn't! How would you feel if I always let myself get injured for you!?"

"I obviously wouldn't be okay with that," he says as if the answer was as clear as day.

"Then what makes you think I am?" she was practically yelling at this point. The hero gaped at the girl who looked like she was on the verge of crying, "I just...what if I really lose you?"

He walks up to her and does the typical Adrien shoulder touch, "You won't," he lifts her chin up and smiles down at her reassuringly.

"You don't know that," she states, still trying to push her point.

"Yes I do," he simply repeats his previous statement, "I'm sorry that I've been worrying you. I didn't realise how much my actions affected you but I won't stop putting my safety before yours. Keeping you safe is the one thing I'm good at, please don't take that away from me."

The girl looks down and sighs for the a hundredth time, "Can you at least try doing it without you getting hurt? I don't think I'd ever forgive myself if anything bad happened to you."

Chat smiles warmly, happy to make a compromise, "Okay sure, but on one condition."

"Which is..?" she looks back up at him in confusion.

"Go on a date with me."


	4. four

Marinette stares at the ceiling, counting the minutes to patrol. Why did she even agree to this? It was just supposed to be an experiment to see if he really did like her but it all got way out of hand. She was still upset over Adrien. This wasn't fair for her partner, she felt horrible for even proposing the idea.

"Tikki," Marinette calls out for her kwami, who was nibbling on a cookie at her desk, "What's the time?"

Tikki takes a glance at the computer screen for the hundredth time, "It's still five."

Marinette heaves out a sigh, flailing her arms out in the air, still lying on her day bed. Tikki smiles reassuringly, "Stop stressing over this Mari. A night out with Chat might be good for you, you might be able to finally move on from Adrien," the kwami reasons, trying to calm down her tense chosen.

"But am I even ready to me on?" Mari asks, pouting, sitting up.

Tikki finishes up her cookie, flying over the blunette's shoulder, "There's only one way to find out," the little ladybug says, "Adrien's going to be here any minute now for your project. Just see what happens!"

Marinette bites the inside of her cheek and nods, figuring that her kwami was probably right in this matter. Almost on cue, she hears her mother's voice from downstairs, calling for her, "Marinette, dear, you're friend is here for you!"

"Just send him up!" she calls back, not feeling like getting up. She didn't see much of a reason to try to impress him at this point. He'll never see her the same way she sees him. He was probably soaring in some other blunette girl's sky blue eyes, like the poem suggested. She was probably smarter and more courageous than her. There's so reason for Adrien to like a clumsy, awkward loser like her.

The trap door creaks open, the blonde boy peeking in, checking to see if it was okay to come in. Marinette stands up, trying her best to keep her cool, "H-hey," she blushes, tucking her hair behind her ears as Adrien walks into the room.

"Hey," he smiles, setting his school bag down on the chair. He looks back up at the flustered girl, blushing a little himself as he watches her play with her hair, nervously. 'Cute,' he smiles to himself. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't at least have a little crush on her. A lot of the boys in their year did. It was just the little things, like how she'd bite her thumb a little when she's concentrated or how her eyes would light up when she got excited and her little happy dance that would come out of it. Marinette was something else. Her positivity radiated off her onto the rest of the class and the only person who can't feel it is Chloe, who's willingly choosing to block it out.

It was the little things that made him love his lady too. The way she'd gets so determined when fighting an akuma, the little smile she thinks he doesn't notice when he cracks a pun and she pretends to hate it or the way she gets so worked up when he jumps in front of her to save her.

They were two people that you couldn't help but love and though his heart was given purely to his lady, there was still a little room for Marinette there too. A little soft spot. A little flower that had to be protected no matter what. A little ray of sunshine on the darker days when all seems lost. He wanted to be a part of Marinette's world, to be her friend, but first he has to prove to her that there's nothing to be afraid of. That he was someone she could trust instead of running away every time she saw him.

Marinette pulls out an extra chair and takes out their poster, sitting down, "I went a bit ahead, if you don't mind," she unrolls the page as Adrien sits next to her.

"No, no, that's fine," he smiles at her.

Marinette smiles back, a rosy pink hue dusted on her cheeks. They both take out their school supplies and begin working, Adrien doing the research and Marinette writing it up on yellow scrap paper in cursive writing and pasting it on the pale pink poster. This goes on for about thirty minutes before Marinette finally says something, "So how's things between you and that girl?" she asks innocently.

His eyes light up, mind going back to their date, "I think they're looking up," he says, a little dreamily, "I took you're advice. I asked her out."

Marinette fakes a smile, trying to think about her own date to keep her spirits up, "What did she say?"

She already knew the answer to that by just looking at the cheesy smile on his face yet somehow he heart still ached when he replied, "She said yes."

"I'm so happy for you Adrien!" she tries to sound positive, hiding her sadness as much as possible.

"Thanks," he grins, happy to be getting closer to her.

Sabine peeks through the trap door, calling for her daughter, "Marinette, can you help me downstairs for a moment?"

The girl looks over at Adrien, almost as if she was looking for approval to go. Adrien nods, "Go ahead, I'll wait!"

Mari nods as well, getting up and heading downstairs, "I'll be back in five!" she calls as the door closes behind her.

Adrien spins around in his chair, looking around the room as he waits for her. Time seemed to go a lot slower without her around. He let out a sigh as he stops spinning and taps his pencil on the desk. He tries his best to keep himself from touching his face subconsciously so he doesn't rub off the make up that covered his bruise. He really did give his make up artists a hard time today covering that injury up. It was even harder to come up with an excuse for it, seeing as how Adrien didn't have a lot of time to hang around after school.

Out of sheer boredom he lets Plagg out of his shirt, seeing as how he could get the kwami to entertain him for a bit.

"Wow, that's a whole lot of pink," the little cat comments, flying out of the shirt and into the open.

"Don't be rude Plagg!" Adrien scolds him, standing up and taking a good look at the place himself. He didn't get a chance to really explore with all the project work. Plagg, however had a different idea of looking around.

"Oooh~" the kwami chimes, eyeing the closed drawer, "What's in here?~"

Without much hesitation the kwami flies in the drawer, ignoring Adrien's attempts to stop him, "Hey, stop! We can't just snoop around!"

It was too late, Plagg was already in the drawer, pretty much forcing the model to open it. Adrien, scowls at the kwami but the disgusted expressions quickly gets wiped away, his cheeks flushing when he accidentally sees the drawer's contents.

Posters. Posters of him. A lot of them too. Wow, wow...wow okay. That's...a lot of pictures.

"Oh, this is rich!" Plagg cackles, getting a crack out of this as he flies over Adrien's shoulder.

"You think this is funny!?" Adrien flails his arms. From what it seems like, poor Marinette has a crush on him. A big one too and suddenly everything made sense, her nervousness, the way it took her months to be able to say a full sentence around him...oh God...and she was helping him with his love life! He felt like the biggest asshole in the world. How selfless does someone have to be to give up their feelings for someone just to make them happy?

Just then he hears footsteps coming up the stairs. In a fit of panic he slams the drawer shut, "Quick, hide!" he orders, making room for Plagg. The kwami zooms into his shirt as Marinette opens the trap door and walks inside the room.

"Hey, sorry. That took longer than expected," she laughs awkwardly. Adrien chuckles nervously, feeling beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, "Haha, that fine! Totally fine!" he tries to keep his cool, scratching the back of his neck.

How could be possibly act cool around her now though!? He felt absolutely terrible for even stumbling by this information! Never mind the fact that she was completely putting aside he feelings to help him!

Marinette cocks her eyebrow, taken back by his behaviour, "Okay..." she sits down in her seat. Adrien shifts uncomfortably, oh how could he have been so stupid? He couldn't just let her continue hurting herself for him but he couldn't confront her either. That would be even more dickish.

Maybe he could set her up with some other guy. A better guy. Someone who could treat Marinette like the princess she was. Kim seems like a pretty cool guy but not really Mari's type. A lot of the time he seemed to get on her nerves. Ivan? No, he was with Mylene and he doubts that he's her type either. What about Nathanael? He was nice, a little shy but nice. He was a good artist so they might have some stuff in common. He already has a crush on her too. He could make this happen...yes...he could!

"So..." he coughs to clear his throat, "What do you think about Nathanael?"

Marinette looks up from her work, a little confused as to why he'd ask that question, "Um, he's nice, I guess."

Adrien feels his non-existent beard, nodding at the match he made, "Would you say he's cute?"

"I guess?" she cocks her eyebrow. Nath was nice but she couldn't really see herself going out with him. At least not for long.

"Good, good," Adrien nods, "That's purrfect."

Marinette laughs, "Was that a pun?" she crosses her arms.

"Maybe~" he plays along, leaning in a little, letting his Chat Noir show a little.

Marinette rolls her eyes, getting back to writing, "You dork."

Adrien laughs along. If it weren't for Ladybug it would definitely be Marinette, "Oh shush, the ladies love my puns."

Marinette groans at that remark, "Maybe with bribery!"

"Hey!" he exclaims, putting a hand on his chest dramatically.

"What? It's true!" she chuckles, glad to finally be able to joke around him.

"You wound me, Mari," he gasps dramatically, spinning in his chair, earning another eye roll from the blunette.

"Dork," she repeats, smiling to herself. Adrien smiles back.

Today he just made a friend.

And tomorrow he was going to help her with her own love life.

The heroine lands on the grass, looking around for her partner. He said he was going to be here, why wasn't here? Chat wouldn't really bail on her, would he?

Just then, she hears a voice from the distance calling for her, "My lady!" Chat calls, "Over here!"

Ladybug's eyes light up as she swings over to him, landing gracefully in front of the large cherry blossom tree. She looks up at it in awe, then looking down to see a blanket spread under the tree with a small basket waiting to be opened.

It wasn't much, but in a way that's what made it even more special. Sure, it wasn't some dinner or a ball room dance like she expected him to try and pull off, him being Chat and all, but the simplicity of it all made it even better. The way the little flower petals would occasionally float down on the grass, some landing on the blanket or the little daisies that were spread across the hill.

"You like it?" Chat asks hopefully, eyes beaming, "I thought this place looked pretty so it reminded me of you!"

Ladybug gapes for a moment longer before smiling, a faint blush tainted across her cheeks, "It's beautiful," she says, kneeling down on the blanket. Chat grins victorious as he sits down next to her, crossing his legs.

"I'm glad you like it, my lady," he says as he opens the basket and pulls out two glasses and a carton of cranberry juice, "I figured that since we're too young to drink wine, I'd bring the second best option," he explains, pouring the juice in her glass first before his.

"Cranberry juice?" she cocks her eyebrow, laughing a little.

"Well it's red," he counters, happy to see her enjoying herself.

"You're ridiculous," she teases, taking a sip from her glass.

"You love it," the cat smirks, drinking from his own glass. Ladybug smiles, rolling her eyes. Sure, she was still upset over Adrien but she was comforted, knowing that he was happy and right now, at this very moment in time, Chat made her happy and she knew that she made him happy too. So it was all good, for now, right now, everything was good. 


End file.
